In the first part of this Q&A, we started our review about why God continually condemns arrogance.  We mentioned that the words arrogance, arrogant, proud, and haughty are mentioned over 200 times in the New International Version, and that they are all interconnected in their meaning.   God resists the proud, as we read in 1 Peter 5:5: “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’”

In the Book of Psalms are found many references to those traits that God does not approve of.   Psalm 5:5 reads: “The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.”   Boastful, that is self-praising, boasting and bragging, exhibiting self-importance, reflects arrogance that God totally disapproves of; therefore, His people should steer clear of any such behaviour.   This is further supported by Psalm 75:4: “I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’ And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn.’”

Further such injunctions are found in Psalm 94:4: “They utter speech, and speak insolent things; All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.”   Also, Psalm 119:21 reads: “You rebuke the proud—the cursed, Who stray from Your commandments.”

Being arrogant, proud, boastful and haughty are traits, that, if not repented of, will ensure that we will not be in the Kingdom of God as God hates these characteristics.   The world and its ways can rub off, even on the people of God, so we had better be very careful about the way we live our lives and ensure that we are not guilty in such matters.

Of course, some even accuse true Christians of arrogance. One such accusation on a forum stated that “Religions in many ways are indistinguishable from fascism, where one’s value comes not from oneself, but from your status as part of something much greater. As such, it encourages and rewards extreme arrogance: nothing so deadly as a righteous man.”

Maybe that could apply in some cases, and we all have to be careful that, because God has called us out of this world, we don’t have such a mindset.  If we are one of God’s people who follow His instructions on how to live His Way of Life, that accusation could not be made against us as we would be guilty of doing that of which God disapproves and would disqualify us as one of God’s people anyway.

Further criticism against God is that He was arrogant when He spoke to Job, as we read in Job 38:4: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,” and in the rest of the chapter, God “revealed His Omnipotence to Job,” as the chapter heading in some Bibles reads.

Barnes Notes on the Bible observes: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? – The first appeal is to the creation. The question here, ‘Where wast thou?’ implies that Job was not present. He had not then an existence. He could not, therefore, have aided God, or counselled him, or understood what he was doing. How presumptuous, therefore, it was in one so short-lived to sit in judgment on the doings of him who had formed the world!”

The allegation that God was arrogant is made null and void when we see the context and know that God is love which is the very antithesis of arrogance (compare 1 John 4:8,16).

Another criticism is that Christians believe that theirs is the only true religion.   What about all of the other faiths – aren’t they equally important?   And isn’t it arrogant for Christians to believe that they are the only ones with the truth?   It is interesting that since the dawn of civilization, man has gravitated towards pagan gods of stone and there are many instances of this.   One such is the example of Solomon as we read in 1 Kings 11:4-8: “For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.  For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.  Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David.  Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.  And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.”

Even Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived (except for Jesus Christ), resorted to idol worship, and it can be guaranteed that the master of deception, Satan the devil was at the heart of such behaviour.   After all, he is the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4; Authorized Version) and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2).

We further read in Acts 4:12: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved,” which clearly tells us that all the other religions in this world are false.   Is it arrogance to believe that?   It is, surely, just a matter of believing what the great Creator of the Bible states in His Word, which can never be construed as arrogance.

Having arrogance is a deeply unlovely trait, and when we hear someone displaying this characteristic, it can, and it must be, something that reinforces our belief that in no way must we behave in such a manner.

It should be obvious to readers of the Bible that God approves of behaviour that is in line with what He is – God is love as was mentioned before.  We read in 1 John 4:7-8: “ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born (begotten) of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

God the Father Who created us all is perfect.  The second member of the God Family, the Logos or Word and Who became Jesus Christ, is also perfect.   As perfect beings, they make no errors or mistakes and are the epitome of love as the above Scripture reveals.   We can be the same through the power of the Holy Spirit which we are given after repentance and baptism.   We read in John 1:12: “ But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

We have taken the long route to answer the question thoroughly, although there may be those who think that this is not necessary for the people of God.   However, because we have the knowledge of God’s Way which most people discard or ignore today, there could be a tendency, if we’re not careful, that this might give us a superior feeling or arrogance which would be dangerous.   We must not forget that the religious people in Jesus’ time did make considerable mistakes in this area.   We read in the first part of this two-part series, in Luke 18:9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector where superiority and arrogance were shown by the outwardly religious man but who seemed to feel superior to everyone else.

Wherever self is mentioned, we had better be very careful, but one area that is vitally important is that of self-assessment.   In 1 Corinthians 11:27-28, we are instructed as follows: “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”  In verses 23 to 26 of the same chapter is the institution of the New Testament Passover and the necessity to examine ourselves before taking it.   In 2 Corinthians 13:5 is a further instruction to examine ourselves: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” Therefore, this self-assessment or investigation is a vital and necessary part of our Christian lives.

Apart from this pre-Passover requirement (which should be ongoing throughout the year) is the requirement of fasting on the Day of Atonement.  We read the following in our booklet “The Meaning of God’s Fall Holy Days”: “Leviticus 23:27 gives the following command on the Day of Atonement: ‘… It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls….’   The Hebrew word for ‘afflict’ is ‘anah.’ It means, literally, ‘to lower’ or ‘to humble.’  Deuteronomy 8:3 sheds more light on the meaning of the Hebrew word, ‘anah.’ We read: ‘He humbled [‘anah’] you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna…’ We should note here the connection between being humbled and abstaining from food. Psalm 35:13 adds: ‘I humbled [‘anah’] myself with fasting.’”

Humbling oneself is the opposite of arrogance.  When fasting, arrogance is usually a trait that can disappear quite quickly, if it was there in the first place.   It is difficult to demonstrate an attitude of arrogance and superiority when you are being deprived of one of the basics of life – food. 

In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, we read about a time of stress during the last days: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,  traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

We have been warned!  The arrogance and haughtiness displayed by those outside the Church are traits that we must dismiss and not let any of this sort of behaviour rub off on us.   Love cannot exist where arrogance prevails as the two are completely incompatible.

Because continually exhibiting arrogance as a Way of Life is not the way that will lead to eternal life in the Kingdom of God. We all need to ensure that such a trait is one that we cannot be accused of.   If we have problems in this area, it is imperative to remove them as soon as possible; otherwise, we could fall short of what is required by God.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

Why is arrogance so condemned by God?   After all, some may think that it is merely an extension to self-confidence and we all need to be self-confident, don’t we?

On the website powerofpositivity, we read the following:

“A rather fine line exists between arrogance and self-confidence, separated only by empathy. An arrogant person feels they must assert their ego always to feel superior, while a self-confident person knows their worth without having to prove it. Arrogance points to low self-esteem because you feel threatened by other people and believe you must defend yourself. Confident people don’t have anything to show because they know their value.”  

They then quote Stewart Strafford as follows: “Confidence is when you believe in yourself and your abilities, arrogance is when you think you are better than others and act accordingly. You could say that arrogance is false confidence and that the person displaying it is overcompensating for their inner inadequacies.” 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines arrogance as “having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude.”  

Many people look to self-help books, and to writers who have little or no knowledge about the Bible, and seek ways about how best to live and to improve their lives.  The Bible is not a book that most people will immediately refer to in such cases and will, therefore, miss out on the Godly wisdom that it has to offer.

Many people in the Western world today are aware of the story about Sodom and Gomorrah which is related in Genesis 19, and this rightly refers to the sin of homosexuality, naysayers notwithstanding, and we have covered this a number of times in our writings.   However, these inhabitants were guilty of other sins, as we read in Ezekiel 16:49: “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.”

In Proverbs 8:13, we read: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.”  Pride and arrogance are complementary to each other and are traits that God hates. As a brief side issue, pride is the word used in connection with wrong sexual practices: Wikipedia points out: “LGBT pride is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT rights movements.”

We are addressing in these two Q&As the wrong kind of pride—that of arrogant pride. We understand that there is also a right kind of pride (compare our Q&As on “Is Pride Always Condemned in the Bible?,” Parts 1 and 2). https://www.eternalgod.org/is-pride-always-condemned-in-the-bible-part-1/ and https://www.eternalgod.org/is-pride-always-condemned-in-the-bible-part-2/ )

In Proverbs 16:5, we read in the Amplified Bible: “Every one proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful and exceedingly offensive to the Lord; be assured – I pledge it — he will not go unpunished.”

Many websites state that the words arrogance, arrogant, proud, and haughty are mentioned over 200 times in the New International Version, and such statements emanating from God are not given approval.

Just a few examples in the Word of God will show what God thinks of an arrogant attitude.

We read in 1 Samuel 2:3 the prayer of Hannah after the birth and weaning of Samuel. Hannah exclaimed, by addressing the people: “Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.”  Arrogancy, that is “claiming more than one’s due,” “assumption,” and “pride” are definitely not approved.

We know that King Nebuchadnezzar had a particular problem with arrogance and pride.   We read in Daniel 4:30: “The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?’” Immediately, he heard the following: “While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!’” (verse 31).    Punishment was immediate, and we read his fate in verses 32-33.   However, after his punishment, he praised the Most High God (verses 34-37).  Arrogance is the total opposite of godliness as it promotes self above all others, even against God.    How apropos is the instruction in Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” “Haughty” is commonly defined as “arrogantly, superior and disdainful.”

In Isaiah 13:11, there is further information about arrogance and haughtiness: “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” The Pulpit Commentary observes: “I will punish the world for their evil. Here the prophecy certainly goes beyond the destruction of Babylon, and becomes a general warning to the wicked of all countries. Each country is to feel that its turn will come. Punishment will fall especially on the unjust, the proud, and the haughty (comp. Isaiah 1:28; Isaiah 2:11-17, etc.).”

Jeremiah 48:29 reveals pride that is ungodly: “We have heard the pride of Moab (He is exceedingly proud), Of his loftiness and arrogance and pride, And of the haughtiness of his heart.”   Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states: “…(he is exceedingly proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart; a heap of words to express the same thing, suggesting that the instances of his pride were many, and that it was exceeding great indeed: these many words were little enough; and indeed words were wanting fully to declare it” (our emphasis).

We further read in Proverbs 21:24: “A proud and haughty man—’Scoffer’ is his name; He acts with arrogant pride.”   Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary observes: “Pride and haughtiness make men passionate; such continually deal in wrath, as if it were their trade to be angry.”  

Self-promotion, which is bragging or otherwise attempting to make oneself appear greater, carries with it an attitude of superiority and arrogance. Proverbs 27:2 has the precise answer to such behaviour: “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.”  Further confirmation of this principle is found in 2 Corinthians 10:17-18: “But ‘he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’ For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.”   Glorying in the Lord removes any arrogance or superiority and ensures that credit is given to the right source!

In the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14, we read that the right Godly attitude is rewarded rather than the arrogant, self-serving one: “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’”

We read in Romans 12:3 that further instruction is given by the apostle Paul: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”   Thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think is arrogance.

In the book of James, we read about forward planning but there is no mention of God being involved: “But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:16).   Planning is a good thing to do and God’s involvement removes arrogant or self-serving attitudes: “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

On February 23, 2024, time.com headlined an article, titled, “The Odysseus Lunar Landing Brings NASA One Step Closer to Putting Boots on the Moon.” It went on to say: “‘Today, for the first time in more than a half century, the U.S. has returned to the moon,’ said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a livestream that accompanied the landing. ‘Today, for the first time in the history of humanity, a commercial company and an American company launched and led the voyage up there.’ 

“Ever since NASA established its Artemis program in 2017, the space agency has made it clear that the new era of exploration will be much more ambitious. The goal is in part for American astronauts to establish at least a semi-permanent presence on the moon, with a mini-space station known as Gateway positioned in lunar orbit, allowing crews to shuttle to and from the surface. NASA also plans to create a south pole habitat that the crews could call home. And all of this will be done by a much more diverse corps of astronauts, with women and persons of color joining the all-white, all-male list of astronauts who traveled to the moon the first time around.”

On the nasa.gov website, we read this statement: 

“WHY WE ARE GOING TO THE MOON

“We’re going back to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation of explorers: the Artemis Generation. While maintaining American leadership in exploration, we will build a global alliance and explore deep space for the benefit of all.”

While there is much positivity about such activities, Amitai Etzioni – an adviser to the Carter administration – countered some of the arguments for colonizing Mars and other planets in the Solar System (as put forth by luminaries such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk). Addressing the argument that humanity needed to do so to survive long-term, Etzioni wrote:

“[W]hat the droughts, the fires, the hot summers, and the melting glaciers call for is not an escape from Earth, but a redoubling of the efforts to save it… What is needed are major technological breakthroughs that will allow for protecting earth while sustaining a healthy level of economic activity… To make such breakthroughs we need major concentrations of research and development resources, talent, and leadership, all of which are in short supply. Hence, any serious Mars endeavor will inevitably cut into the drive to save Mother Earth.”

There are arguments and counter arguments on the matter, and it is indisputable that there have been many benefits that space flights and exploration have brought with the ability to study earth from outer space.   Analysing weather patterns and GPS tracking would be just two.

It is a huge subject with many varied and differing views on the matter, and this is not the forum to address those in a single Q&A. But we would like to state, in passing, that the claim that no moon and Mars landings took place, is false, and that this is not the teaching of the Church of the Eternal God and its affiliates. Many will recall Herbert W. Armstrong’s often-repeated statement that this world has achieved incredible progress, such as sending man to the moon and back, but that the world is also filled with appalling evils. In fact, in his book, “Mysteries of the Ages,” he wrote in the introduction on page 8 of the hard-cover edition, copyright 1985:

“We send men to cavort about on the moon and return them safely back to earth. Unmanned spacecraft land on Mars and send back to earth close-up photographs of the Martian surface. Other unmanned spacecraft fly close to Jupiter and send back astonishing pictures of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.”

Mr. Armstrong never doubted that man went to the moon and walked on it, and neither do we doubt this today.

However, it is interesting, but not surprising, that whenever articles and statements about moon and Mars landings are aired, God never seems to get a mention!

Does the Bible have anything to say about the matter?

In Acts 17:26 we read: “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges makes this simple statement: “…where they can dwell and where they cannot.”

In 1960, the Worldwide Church of God produced a booklet entitled, “Who Will Rule Space?,” which was also written by Mr Herbert W. Armstrong.  The opening comments were:

“Who will rule Space?  World leaders know the first nation to conquer SPACE will RULE THE WORLD!  Fantastic advances are made almost daily in the race to send men to the moon but what does it all mean? WHY the expenditure of BILLIONS on the Space race? Is Space exploration only innocent ‘science’ seeking to further its fund of knowledge concerning man’s environment? Here are the shocking answers.” 

We will give some selected information from this booklet which we feel may be helpful to the reader.

“Because we have left God out of the picture-ignoring the plain statements of Biblical prophecy-we are ignorant of the real danger, and looking to the wrong source for protection.”  

“Meanwhile, WHAT’S HAPPENED TO GOD? We never see Him mentioned or referred to in any manner in this frantic race to control SPACE.” 

“In your Bible is One-speaking in the first person-who claims to be the RULER of this entire world, and-the RULER OF ALL SPACE! 

“Men, in their feeble efforts-concentrating on physical and material sciences-scurrying frantically here and there, searching for the acquisition of new MATERIAL knowledge, are striving frantically to RULE SPACE! 

“Mankind-utterly incapable and totally inadequate to solve his own problems on this Earth here below, besmirching it and befouling it with his filth and vile practices, is now thinking of carrying his decaying society into all of the far-reaching areas of the unsearchable universe!’  

“CONQUER SPACE?  Ridiculous! No, man will never RULE Space-but he can intrude into it! Actually-the very fact of man’s almost daily new discoveries in the realm of science is a thundering, ominous warning that the end of man’s self-governing society upon this Earth is drawing rapidly near! Then who WILL rule Space? God has decreed: ‘The heaven, even the heavens, ARE THE ETERNAL’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men!’ (Ps. 115:16.) God has decreed the heavens belong to Him!…

“Your Bible reveals the startling, glorious truth that human kind can, through the Plan Almighty God is working out here below, become God kind! 

“When that is accomplished, when the last, final human being has had opportunity to CHOOSE which way he will go, when God has increased His own family by millions and millions, Paul reveals ‘then cometh the end [the total end of man’s way of life, of his organized society on this Earth], when he [Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power!’ (I Cor. 15:24.) 

“THEN comes the inspiring thunder of the voice of the Great Creator of all things who says, ‘Behold, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW … HE THAT OVERCOMETH SHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son!’ (Rev. 21: 5-7.) 

“Can you now begin to understand? God is offering YOU, not through the promises of science, not by travel in a Spaceship, not by military, political or man-made means, but by the very power of God, through being BORN of Him, as His OWN SON, RULERSHIP OVER SPACE! 

“Yes-it is the saints, the reborn SONS OF GOD, who are going to RULE the entirety of the universe under God, the great Ruler over all! 

“Don’t be caught up in the excitement of man’s feeble physical effort to ‘conquer’ Space. Man’s effort is only another MILITARY and POLITICAL plan to extend his power-without right knowledge. Learn God’s Truth. Begin to equip yourself God’s way-and you will be ‘MORE THAN CONQUERORS!’ (Rom. 8:37.) God wants YOU to rule Space!”

While these comments by Mr Armstrong were made in 1960, they are still relevant today.

We know from the Word of God what happened when man tried to get ahead of himself in a previous age.  Around 2,200 BC, a momentous event took place that has affected mankind right down to today.  We read in Genesis 11:1-9 about the desire of man to make a name for ourselves and build a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens.  Let us review a few of these verses:

“¹ Now the whole earth had one language and one speech…

^“4 And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’

^“6 And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

^{“7 ‘}Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’

^“8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.

^“9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Their aspirations came to nothing, and people were scattered abroad across the earth.

As those involved are, apparently unaware of biblical prophecy and the Plan of God, they plough ahead with their schemes.  If they knew that we had been allotted 6,000 years and that time is about up, they would realise that there is no time left to fulfil their lofty ambitions.  Please see our Q&A on this topic: “Do you teach that modern man is only about 6,000 years old? Do you believe in a 6,000-year plan of God?”  

However, if there was sufficient time left, there would be so many problems with this approach anyway.

1. Man’s war-like proclivities would accompany him to other planets if it were to ever get that far.   To think that man would behave any differently on another planet is folly; there would be the usual scrambling for power and domination and violence would follow as it has done for 6,000 years.
2. The sheer logistics are mind boggling.   We were given the earth to live on and man was to “dress and keep it” (Genesis 2:15).   All of the natural resources were available.   On another deserted planet there would be no such availability and transporting resources, equipment and everything else that such a venture would require would be enormous if not impossible.
3. We know that other “dead” planets don’t have the conditions to allow life to exist as we know it, and that would be a major difficulty.
4. The costs of all of this ego- fueled activity is enormous and much could be accomplished on earth if this money was diverted to more pressing projects on our own planet.

We know that proponents would answer these concerns in a positive way stating that all things would be possible.   Jesus said that “with God all things are possible (see Matthew 19:26) but not with men as God has restricted what we can do at this time.

When mankind ignores the Bible, such projects can, and are, implemented, but when God’s Master Plan of Salvation for mankind is properly understood it becomes a complete non-issue as the people of God will rule on and over the earth, following their resurrection to eternal spirit-born members of the Family of God.    And it goes even further than that.

We read in Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’   And in Revelation 3:21 we read: ‘To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’  Therefore, as Jesus will have been given all authority over heaven and earth and that we are to be with Jesus Christ on His throne, it follows that the earth and the heavens will be that with which we will be involved – through the Master Plan of God not the plans and schemes of man!

In our booklet “Heavens and Earth…Before and After the First Man!,” we read on page 88 about beautifying the earth and then on page 89 about beautifying the Universe:

“Beautifying the Universe

“First, we will reign under Christ over man. But once God’s plan for physical mankind has been completed and all human beings who have qualified will have become immortal God beings (while those who committed the unpardonable sin will have been burned up in the lake of fire), then what will be the next step in God’s great master plan? It appears that we will begin to rule over and beautify the vast universe. Romans 8:18–23 tells us that “the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility in hope; because the creation itself [the entire universe] also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption [or “decay,” compare New International Version and Revised Standard Version]… into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now…””

“This passage indicates that once we are God beings and full members of the God Family, we will participate in the process of beautifying and finishing the creation of the presently unfinished universe. The universe is in a state of decay—the planets are, from all that we can tell, waste and empty. But it is our human potential to become a member of the God Family and, under the leadership of God the Father and Jesus Christ, to free the universe from decay and corruption.”

Finally, the Bible tells us, as explained in our before-mentioned booklet, that God will create new heavens and a new earth, consisting of spirit, and we will rule over them under God the Father and Jesus Christ. 

Great things are just ahead of us but it will not be by man’s doing but by that of the great Creator God.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

Having reviewed both the criticism and approval of the family model God gave at the dawn of civilisation in the previous five Q&A’s, let us now look at Scriptures that show how necessary the family is in a well-ordered society and how it will be in the soon-coming Kingdom of God on earth when Jesus Christ returns.

In our booklet “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families”, we read the following on page 18 under the heading “The Christian Family”:

“As the Bible gives clear instructions as to the individual roles and functions of husbands and wives, it also explains the duties and responsibilities of fathers and mothers toward their children, and of the children toward their parents.

“As we have far too many marriage problems, we also have FAR too many family problems. Too often, parents know little about proper parenting, and rebellious children are the result. Children who are victims of divorce are expected to be resilient when someone they love suddenly disappears from their life. More often than not, they grow up with multiple mothers, fathers, and grandparents due to remarriage, and yet are left to fend for themselves too much of the time, because no one has time for them.

“We read, in fact, a startling and sobering prophecy in the Bible for the very last days—just prior to the return of Christ—that addresses the tragic reality of broken families. Sadly, this situation HAS also affected the attitudes of true Christians, and God says that unless these conditions change, something terrible will happen to this planet.”  

This booklet was written in 2002 and problems with family matters have worsened as we have seen with continued empowerment of minority interests who have little or no interest in promoting marriage and the family unit.

In Colossians 1:15-16 when talking about Jesus Christ, we read: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

We see here that God created all things through His Son, Jesus Christ.  In Genesis 1:26-28 we read:

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

This clearly shows that God the Father and Jesus Christ were both involved in the creation, and man was made in their image.

Genesis 2:21-25 shows that Adam and Eve were man and wife and that a man was to leave the family home and be married:

“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

There is no suggestion anywhere in the Bible that there were to be more than two sexes – just male and female who were to become man and wife.   Today, there are those who would have you believe that there are over 100 different gender identities.  It was reported in January 2021 that a BBC programme aimed at 9-12-year-olds included the astonishing claim that there are ‘over 100 gender identities’. The film, “Identity – Understanding Sexual and Gender Identities”, is being offered on the corporation’s website as part of its relationships and sex education package.  It comes despite Government guidance published last year which advised schools to exercise caution when teaching children about gender issues.   This just shows how even a national broadcaster, of long-standing, can be biased when it takes a stance on the matter of gender identity which can then affect the traditional and godly family.   

The article about the BBC went on to say that “The programme, which features children asking adults about sexuality and gender on behalf of their peers, suggests the different identities include ‘bi-gender’, ‘gender-queer’ and ‘pansexual’.”  The film also tells children that becoming transgender is “a way to be ‘happy’ while making no mention of the growing legal and medical concerns about the rising number of children saying they want to change gender.”

The BBC said teachers were “strongly advised” to watch the film before viewing it with their pupils.

God says there are male and female only; the BBC and many others say that there are 100 different gender identities, depending on who is making the claim.   Who do we believe?  God who is the great Creator of heaven and earth or fallible man who makes up his own mind contrary to his Creator?

In Matthew 19:4-6 Jesus, the Creator along with His Father, had this to say about a question that the Pharisees put to Him: “And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together [or “bound”], let not man separate.’”

And so, Jesus confirmed that marriage was God-ordained.   A man and his wife and children from that union was a family.

In Ephesians 5:22-33, Paul teaches about marriage and the husband’s and wife’s responsibilities, and mentions the comparison with Christ and the Church which shows why marriage and the family are so important.   Satan knows this and that is why, as the prince of the power of the air (see Ephesians 2:2), he is broadcasting his opposition to those who are members of the Church who will marry Christ at His return (see Revelation 19:7-9).

There are many other Scriptures that further show how a family is to behave and function which is for their own good (see Exodus 20:12; Proverbs 1:8; 6:20; 15:20; 20:7; 22:6; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 3:4; and many others).

CONCLUSION:

The attack on the institution of the family is being brought about by a concerted effort by many in the education of the young, and not so young, including by many politicians and a growing number in all the many facets of the media and even some mainstream churches, who “go with the flow” rather than with biblical injunction.   That’s a heady mix of influencers and pressure groups who mold and shape society to their way of thinking.  It does seem in some cases, that once a group has achieved their goals, they are then emboldened and then try and stifle any further discussion on the matter.  

Schools, colleges and universities have access to the minds of their pupils from a young age where they can be molded and shaped according to society’s immoral and God-defying culture.

In her book “Aware, Not Woke” Noelle Mering makes these interesting comments on pages 73/74 in the chapter “Will Over Reason: “Rather than conforming ourselves to him, we have made ourselves into our own gods around whom God must adjust.   Instead of progress, this is the worst form of cultural regression.   It is as if the scientific community returned to the pre-Copernicum thinking of the sun revolving around the earth.

“In order to disobey God, we must first diminish him.   We will not adore a being who is our subordinate.  We don’t stand in awe of what is beneath us.   Once diminished, devotion to him becomes unnecessary but unreasonable.   This is why for so many today, the Christian faith seems to be a sign of weakness, or even stupidity.

“In ensuring God revolves around us, we conceive of him as being what he is not, and in that void, we make gods of ourselves.   This is at the heart of the will’s triumph over reason, over nature and over God.     What we desire becomes right by the sheer fact of desiring it.   It is now we, not he, who know all, love all, are all powerful.   If we keep God around at all, it is for the sake of sentimentalism or custom.   Either way, it will not last.”

Those are powerful words about the current woke culture where they seem to insist that God must bend according to the will of man.  It is stupidity on a massive scale that will ultimately fail.   And those who want to reduce God to having to bend to the will of puny man are those who also want to dismantle and dismiss the importance of the family as we have known it over the last 6,000 years.

There can be little doubt that there are many who are on a quest to try and eliminate the family as we know it—that which has been the hallmark and bedrock of a stable society down through the ages. God who created mankind in the first place, set out the right way of living which is clearly revealed in the pages of the Bible.   However, the world’s best-selling book is probably one of the least read or understood and many just ignore its profound wisdom. The reason is that Satan has blinded their minds so that in most cases they CANNOT see and understand. 

In Hosea 4:6 we read a prophecy where God levels charges against Israel which also applies today:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

In the previous few verses are other charges laid against Israel both then, and now, for their lack of restraint and disobedience.   Surely, we can see how this applies in our lands today.

The divorce rate in most of the English-speaking nations continues to be high but because there are so many doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with the institutions of marriage and the family, but the problem is always with the people concerned, albeit sometimes when it may not be their fault.

The institution of family is perfect!   It is perfect because God created a man and a woman and instructed them to be a family and raise children.   Any problems with any family are because of the individuals involved, not the institution itself.

Always a good question to ask is “What are the fruits?” and in connection with all of the immorality and God-defying attitudes today, the answer will be obvious for those who have eyes to see.

All the information that we have looked at in these 6 Q&A’s are but a drop in the ocean, but they should give us a reasonable overview of the parlous state our nations are in.  Many people around the world may not always fully appreciate how far this assault on the God-ordained family has gone, along with many other ungodly practices.   Those of us in the Church of God need to make sure that we are not taken in by any of the practices which society allows, and in many cases encourages.   We are fighting an uphill battle as a sodomite-type culture continually approves of wrong behaviour, and we know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah!

In the soon-coming Kingdom of God, true, right and good governance will be the order of the day under the righteous rule of Jesus Christ and His government here on earth.   That is the future that all of God’s people must be looking forward to, but in the meantime, all of those who have been called and chosen by God need to ensure that we are following His righteous ways and recognising the stupidity of man’s current governance.

We know that Satan and his demons want to cause doubt and distress to those who are being, and have been called and chosen.  By sowing seeds of doubt about the institution of the God-ordained family, these spiritual forces reduce the importance of it in so many people’s minds. In our Q&A, “Where will the marriage supper between Christ and His Church be held?” we read:

“Revelation 19:7-9 states the following about the marriage between Christ and His Church: ‘Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb [Jesus Christ, compare Revelation 5:1-14] has come, and His wife [the Church, compare Ephesians 5:31-32] has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’”” 

Here we read of the importance to God of the marriage supper and to the future Family of God.   Undermining marriage, as society now dictates, will in many people’s minds reduce and possibly eliminate the need for people to be married at all at this time, and this will inevitably impact their view of marriage.   Such people could have a hard time understanding the marriage supper of the Lamb! 

We mentioned our booklet “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families” earlier and it seems appropriate to finish this Q&A with the final paragraphs on page 36 from this booklet under the heading “Use These Keys!”:

“We have seen from the Bible the vital keys to happy marriages and families. God wants mankind to apply His perfect laws for our own good. In fact, if we do, God will be in our marriages and in our families, guiding and protecting us as we seek to follow His lead. In Isaiah 66:2, God promises to help us, if we have an attitude pleasing to Him, ‘But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.’

“In the book of Malachi, God takes special note of those who fear or respect Him and who esteem His name. Consider what God says to those people, ‘‘“…And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him”’’ (Malachi 3:17). God is revealed in the Bible as our Father (cp. Matthew 6:9; 23:9). He wants His family to be happy, and the way for us to do that is to apply His keys revealed to us for this tremendous purpose.

“We have been given an awesome privilege of knowing HOW we can better our marriage and family relationships. But with knowledge comes responsibility! We need to ACT upon what we know! Rather than being forgetful hearers or readers, let’s become DOERS of the Word of God (James 1:22–25). And if we do that, the product will be happy and successful relationships, and our marriages and families will stabilize and will last.

“It’s up to us now to respond to God’s challenge—are we going to apply God’s Word in our lives, or not? Our very physical and spiritual survival—as well as the survival of our families—will depend on it!”

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In the 4^th part of this Q&A, we started to look at those who are committed to, and promote, the institution of the God-ordained family.   Let us continue to review this much more positive attitude towards the biblical family environment which is the bedrock of a stable society.

Quoting selectively from the USA website concernedwomen, we see that they are concerned about:

1.    The disrespect for and devaluation of the family and for the unique contribution of fathers and mothers. The attempt to deny biological distinctions between men and women.

2.    Sexual promiscuity, cohabitation and sexually transmitted diseases.

3.    The alarming increase in violence in American households, including same-sex and opposite-sex partner assaults, spousal assaults, and child and elder abuse.

And they are working to see:

1.    The family esteemed as the bedrock institution of society consisting of individuals related by blood, marriage (the legal union of one man and one woman), birth, or adoption. The respect for the distinctiveness of men and women.

2.    Society value and respect marriage, encourage sexual abstinence before marriage and educate on the dangers of promiscuity.

3.    An end to violence within households, especially the sexual abuse of children, while reinforcing the importance and autonomy of healthy families.

And, importantly, they are doing this from a biblical viewpoint, which is encouraging to see.

In his article “In defence of family life” in January 2023, Niall Gooch wrote about a new study investigating the financial costs of having children.

“There is something profoundly wrong-headed about the whole endeavour of trying to evaluate the good of family life in economic terms, or to treat the raising of children as simply one option among many in the great lifestyle marketplace. And yet many people persist with doing so. 

“More fundamentally, some things in life are, and should be, set apart from the realm of price and economic calculation. I am not among those social conservatives who are completely disdainful of the need for growth and prosperity, but it is bordering on immoral to insist that a parent’s responsibility to an abstraction like GDP supersedes their natural and healthy desire — and responsibility — to be closely involved in the raising of their own children. It is, after all, a well-established finding in social science that most women would like to spend more time with their children in the early years.

“This is an entirely reasonable and wise wish. The family is at the heart of our civilisation. As the site of the raising of the next generation, it is crucial to our ongoing survival and flourishing. It precedes all our political and economic arrangements and it will, hopefully, outlast them. At its best it is a place of unconditional love and rootedness. This is what we mean when we talk about Home. It is where we learn the arts of humanity: compromise, forgiveness, tolerance, humour. It is where we find consolation and rest among those whose bonds with us go deeper than choice or shared interests. The value of this way of life is literally immeasurable. 

“The weakening of the family does have consequences. Consider how contemporary culture, especially those parts of it entangled with social media, is increasingly febrile and antagonistic. A special status attaches to ‘safety’, understood not in the traditional sense of physical protection from harm, but as the right to be insulated from strong challenges to personal opinions or conceptions of the world. Commentators often speculate about how this has come about. No doubt the demand for a ‘safe space’ is often made cynically, to intimidate opponents. But equally it seems that many people do genuinely experience questioning of their worldview as an attack on themselves. 

“A society that wishes to remain open and wealthy must pay attention to the preconditions of liberty. Robust families which take care of their own as far as possible, minimising reliance on the state, are one of those preconditions. Rushing parents back into the workplace, to leave their small children with strangers for eight hours a day, and leaving them little time for informal caring responsibilities or community involvement, is almost certainly a false economy.

“There remain, finally, the human truths about the relative importance of work and family. There is nothing to compare with watching your children take their first steps or perform in their first play, or finally master reading. These things have no conceivable monetary value. It’s not your colleagues who will look after you in your old age. Your headstone is unlikely to feature glowing personal tributes to your professional life. I think often of a simple inscription I saw above a grave many years ago: ‘To a devoted father, a loving husband & loyal friend.’ Which of us, when our time comes, could really hope for more than that?”

As we pointed out before, some of these are certainly worthwhile comments, but they also show how difficult it might be to carry them out, since our governmental and economic systems, all being inspired and controlled by Satan, make this often impossible. But again, we can try to do the best under a corrupt and deeply ungodly government and in a God-defying evil and rotten society. 

Some years ago, Rita Kramer wrote a book  “In Defense of the Family,” and Chester E. Finn reviewed this and reported as follows: 

“At once stern and affectionate, (Rita Kramer) harbors what many will deem old-fashioned views, namely, that an authentic family consists of husband, wife, and children, and that raising the children is the foremost responsibility of the parents, not something to be done for them by public or private agencies while the adults engage in other pursuits. Her book, however, is not an exercise in finger-wagging or tradition-mongering. Rather, Mrs. Kramer’s image of the proper ordering of family and society is grounded in her understanding of child development, of human psychology, and of the requisites for the emergence of an autonomous young adult as a responsible and productive member of democratic society who will in time become a competent parent of the next generation.

“To state her thesis simply, the successful development of the child requires the sustained and active involvement of both parents. This does not mean entrusting the child to the care of well-chosen professionals; it means looking after the child oneself. And those doing the looking-after must act like his parents, not his buddies…

“Does a child grow up with the sense of being protected in a world that makes sense?  Such a beginning provides the basis for the flexibility of response that will help him learn and overcome difficulties in later life. Such parents are able to let the child go little by little as he indicates a need and an ability to move out on his own. They instil conscience rather than dependency. The paradox is that only by remaining strong, authority figures can… help their child become independent. He learns from what they are, what they do, what it is to be an adult.

“The centrality of the parents and the stability of the family have several corollaries. Formal institutions, notably the schools, are to play supporting rather than leading roles in the drama of child-rearing. If parents attend to their child’s values and character, if they assume responsibility for sex education and moral development, the schools can concentrate on cognitive skills and subject matter. This is desirable, both because intellectual development is something that schools can do well (and that parents seldom can) and because the controversies surrounding such curricular and pedagogical matters are far less fractious than those involving issues of faith and morals.”

Again, we would not agree with everything stated above, especially with the idea that parents can seldom help with the intellectual development of the child. That concept seems to be dead-wrong. It also overlooks the terrible and God-defying role which schools are playing in far too many circumstances. 

That’s quite a defence, if one was needed, about the necessity and need for a properly constructed family as God ordained.   Her supposed “old-fashioned views” are nothing of the sort; that is a tag that so-called “progressives” like to use in a derogatory way to support their own man-made conclusions that they arrived at where the teachings of the Creator God are ignored or not even considered.   After all, man thinks that he knows best in all things including redefining the family unit.   What a lesson these people will learn in the future!

Finally, in this section, we will quote an article headed “The Decline of the Traditional Family and the Threat to Democracy” by John W. Whitehead, which is a robust support of the God-ordained family and we will quote from this article as follows:

“The traditional family–a married man and woman with children–is in decline, even as lip service to ‘family values’ is being paid to its importance from both the Left and Right of the political spectrum. Under the swirling current of this double-speak, the entire social fabric of American culture is being upended as a result of deteriorating family life and the conditions that undermine care for our children.

“These startling conclusions are backed by a recent report of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The report concludes that households will move even further away from the family-structure model of a stay-at-home mother, working father, and children. [As we have pointed out before, this rather sad development is many times dictated by economic realities, not necessarily by choice or preference. It is simply not desirable to become homeless while insisting that a mother must stay at home rather than fulfilling the need of supplementing the family income]. 

“Because of divorce, cohabitation (unmarried adults living together) and single parenthood, a majority of families rearing children in the 2lst Century will probably not include the children’s two parents. Moreover, most households will not include children at all. ‘Marriage has declined as the central institution under which households are organized and children are raised,’ commented Tom Smith, author of the report. In fact, a growing proportion of children has been born outside of marriage.

“These structural changes in the family have obviously led to a reassessment of values. And, as the study illustrates, the U.S. has not reached a peak of modernity. More changes, thus, are in store.

“Values have shifted in several areas. For example, ‘the climb in divorce and liberalization of divorce laws,’ the report states, ‘went along with public support for the idea that divorce was preferable to continuing failed marriages.’ [Sadly, if a marriage has failed indeed, perhaps due to adultery and other sins, divorce might very well be the preferable and only alternative.] Moreover, greater tolerance of premarital sex coincided with gains in teenage sexual activity, cohabitation and non-marital birth. In brief, changes in structure and values have gone hand-in-hand over the last generation to transform the American family in both forms and norms.

“However, the effect of this transformation may have other consequences for society. In 1952, a California appeals court touched on what the impact may be:

“The family is the basic unit of our society, the center of the personal affections that ennoble and enrich human life. It channels biological drives that might otherwise become socially destructive; it ensures the care and education of children in a stable environment; it establishes continuity initiative that distinguishes a free people.

“From antiquity, the family has served as the basic building block of free societies. Likewise, we find a strong emphasis on the high estate of parenthood and history. Wherever we turn in the ancient world, to Judaism, to Greece or to Rome, the family structure has been revered. And long before foreign invaders toppled any of those great societies, they collapsed from within, due largely to the deterioration of their family structures.

“The family, not the state or the school, therefore, has been primarily responsible for teaching lessons of independence and proper conduct, which are essential to a free, democratic society. If, as we now see, these family functions begin to break down, then everything else we cherish is in peril.”

You will see that we have deliberately underlined the phrase “has not reached a peak of modernity. More changes, thus, are in store” as structural changes in the family have obviously led to a reassessment of values.  That was prophetic as this was written in 1999, some 24 years ago where society then was markedly different to 2023, and not for the better.   There has been an acceleration in the downgrading of the traditional family to an extent that has been breathtaking in its progress.

As a final note in this section, we quote from our weekly Update #1095, dated 22nd December 2023, under the heading “Blasphemous Woke Nonsense”:

“The Daily Mail wrote on December 18:

““Couples getting married will be asked if they want to be called ‘husband and wife’ under new woke Church guidelines. It is part of new ‘inclusive language’ rules published by The Methodist Church, which warns that old-fashioned terminology ‘makes assumptions about a family or personal life that is not the reality for many people’.

““The guidance also advises preachers to share their pronouns with congregation members ‘to create a safe space for people to be themselves.’… they should use ‘gender-neutral language’, opting for words such as ‘folks, teammates, friends, colleagues, or simply people’.  It adds: ‘People of different genders may choose to use a gender-neutral title such as Mx’…””

Such action from a mainstream Church is both deplorable and laughable and is indicative of the way that mainstream Christianity has, in the main, followed secular leadership in downgrading the importance of the Family unit.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

After looking at a sample of the criticism of the godly-ordained family where there is so much antipathy towards this institution, let us now look at those who contend earnestly with the opposite view – that of preserving what God has designed although many approach this from a human point of view, resorting to human reasoning, and, often, without any references to God’s instructions on the matter.

In the Daily Mail newspaper in May 2022, excerpts were published from the new book “The Case Against The Sexual Revolution” by feminist Louise Perry.  We will quote, selectively, what she has to say about marriage.

“Monogamous marriage is by far the most stable and reliable foundation on which to build a family.

“But while the monogamous marriage model may be unusual, it is also spectacularly successful. When monogamy is [adopted by] a society it tends to become richer and more stable, with lower rates of both child abuse and domestic violence. Birth rates and crime rates both fall, which encourages economic development, and wealthy men, denied the opportunity to devote their resources to acquiring more wives, instead invest in property, businesses, employees and other productive endeavours.

“A monogamous marriage system is successful in part because it pushes men away from cad mode, particularly when pre-marital sex is also prohibited. If a man wants to have sex in a way that’s socially acceptable, he has to make himself marriageable. That means holding down a good job and setting up a household suitable for the raising of children. In other words, he has to tame himself. [The need to “tame” oneself applies of course also to a woman, not just to a man.]

“The monogamous marriage model is also the best solution yet discovered to the problems presented by child-rearing.

“There was a wisdom to the traditional model in which the father was primarily responsible for earning money while the mother was primarily responsible for caring for children at home. Such a model allows mothers and children to be physically together and at the same time financially supported. In an age of labour-saving domestic devices it has become more feasible for mothers of young children to do paid work outside of the home, as most of us do and take pleasure from. But not during the early months of a baby’s life.

“I know full well that I was irreplaceable as mother to my new born child – not only because I was the only person who could breastfeed, but also because children have a relationship with their mother that cannot be handed over without distress to both mother and baby. If we want to keep that maternal bond intact, the only solution is for another person to step in during these times of vulnerability and do the tasks needed to keep a household warm and fed.

“Perhaps we could call that person a spouse. Perhaps we could call their legal and emotional bond a marriage.

“Which is why – as a feminist – the most important piece of advice I can offer to the young women of today is this: get married and do your best to stay married. Particularly if you have children. And if you do find yourself in the position of being a single mother, wait until your children are older before you bring a stepfather into their home [We would not necessarily agree with this advice at all].

“These directives are hard to follow because we no longer live in a culture that incentivises perseverance in marriage. But it is still possible for individuals to go against the grain and do the harder, less-fashionable thing.

“The critics of marriage are right to say that it has historically been used for the control of women by men, and they’re right to point out that most marriages do not live up to a romantic ideal. The marriage system that prevailed in the West until recently was not perfect, nor was it easy to conform to, since it demanded high levels of tolerance and self control. Where the critics go wrong is in arguing that there is any better system. There isn’t.”

As we pointed out in part 1 of this series, we realize, of course, that the comments above by a “feminist” are extremely “optimistic” and “idealistic” and are in many cases impossible to carry out today. This is especially true for the idea that the man alone can be the breadwinner today while the wife can stay at home. That would be somewhat ideal, but almost far from being doable in today’s societies. Still, the comments above can serve as guidelines to do what we can do under the best of circumstances.

On dailycaller, dated 27th November 2022, Liz Wheeler wrote an article headed “Twelve Republican Senators Betrayed The Institution Of Marriage,” and below are just a few comments from a long article:

“On November 16, all 50 Democratic senators and 12 of their Republican counterparts voted to advance the Respect for Marriage Act, circumventing the filibuster and paving the way for the bill’s imminent passage.

“In what should come as a surprise to no one familiar with the insidious tactics utilized by the Marxists currently in control of our government, the goals of this bill are being completely misrepresented. It’s time we cleared up exactly what this bill means and break down the sinister ramifications of its potential passage.

“At its core, this legislation would force the federal government to recognize any marriage that was performed according to a state law. If a same-sex couple gets married in a particular state— California, for example — then the federal government would be required to recognize that union.

“There are at least three major problems that would necessarily result from this.  First, the bill amounts to a direct assault upon religious liberty. The anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, anti-religion, anti-God, secular mob will undoubtedly use this law to target people of faith. They will target non-profit organizations. They will target churches. They will target religious schools. You won’t be able to conduct business under the premise of the biblical definition of marriage or you will likely come under fire.

“Which leads us to the second problem: this bill gives government the power to redefine words. This has nothing to do with sexual orientation or sexual attraction. It’s about the definition of the word marriage, and whether government at the federal or state level has the right to redefine what marriage is, and has always been, since before the inception of our country.

“After all, if the federal government can be forced to recognize a same-sex union, what would the limitation be upon recognizing polygamous marriage? What about a marriage between an adult and a child? Once definitions become malleable and subject to political whimsy, they cease to have any meaning, and can be wielded against society at will. There are no limitations.

“Our government does not have the right to redefine words. That is a core tenet of authoritarian rule.”

“Third — and perhaps most importantly — the bill will inherently become a legal catch-all for the Democratic Party’s radical progressive agenda, which hinges upon the deliberate Marxist goal of destroying the nuclear family and ultimately deconstructing our society’s moral fiber.

“Ultimately, this bill is not about equal rights or codifying gay marriage into law. This is a radical leftist agenda that assaults the rights of religious people and institutions, grants government virtually unlimited power to define truth and morality, and provides protection for perverted, anti-American individuals and organizations.”

There are others who have written eloquently about the value of marriage.

Michael Ayling wrote in the Australian Spectator in June 2017: “The Left needs to destroy the family unit to succeed in the long-term. Over the last few years, we have seen numerous attempts to make the meaning of the word ‘family’ whatever anyone wants it to be, to strip it of any collective meaning. The Left needs to attack and to destroy the family as the basic building block of society in order to progress its goals.”

Mr Ayling then goes on to give an account of his schooling and how his school was taken over in 1980 by a highly ideological left-wing couple, calling themselves co-principals where he, and the other students, were exposed to their teaching which was based on their political leanings. Today, in so many areas of education, that same approach continues apace.

Without the protective influence of the family, we are left with “all within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state” as Benito Mussolini once said. The radicals seek to own the idea of the family, by redefining it out of existence.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)